Bitcoin Exchange Chief Kidnapped In Ukraine

Kiev:Pavel Lerner, 40, the chief executive of a UK-based Bitcoin exchange called EXMO has reportedly been kidnapped in Ukraine. He was abducted while leaving his office in Kiev’s Obolon district.

According to the local media reports, Lerner was kidnapped in a Black Mercedes-Benz by a group of men sporting balaclavas.

As per Lerner’s LinkedIn profile, he graduated Kursk State University in Russia in 2012. He is a prominent Russian blockchain expert and the news of his kidnapping has stunned many in the international cryptocurrency community.

Polegate, Sussex–based EXMO described Pavel Lerner as an analytics manager. Following the unfortunate event, the website also suffered a DDOS attack, which affected the trading temporarily offline.

The broadcaster backed by the Russian government, said that Mr Lerner’s kidnapping would not affect the business, reports The Telegraph.

“Any information regarding his whereabouts is very much appreciated. Despite the situation, the exchange is working as usual. We also want to stress that nature of Pavel’s job at EXMO doesn’t assume access either to storages or any personal data of users. All users funds are absolutely safe,” the company said in a statement.